


The Scent of Sakura

by BrigidTheFae, Ruddcatha



Series: Guardian [1]
Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: Arranged Marriage, Explanations, F/M, Implied abuse, InuParents Day 2021, Love, Love at First Sight, Mention of pregnancy, happy marriage, implied suicide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-16
Updated: 2021-01-16
Packaged: 2021-03-14 08:19:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28792323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BrigidTheFae/pseuds/BrigidTheFae, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ruddcatha/pseuds/Ruddcatha
Summary: Izayoi's once prominent merchant family has been cast out of their village and have become traveling merchants.  Their travels bring them to the village of the Inu no Taisho, who has an important and life altering question for Izayoi.What happened in the past that makes her say no?A Guardian PrequelFeaturing artwork commission byBrigidtheFae
Relationships: Inu no Taishou/Izayoi
Series: Guardian [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1916107
Comments: 8
Kudos: 15
Collections: Inu Parents Day 2021





	The Scent of Sakura

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own the characters of Inuyasha, they are the property of Rumiko Takahashi.
> 
> Please enjoy this Guardian Prequel entry for Inuparents Day 2021, focusing on the decisions that Izayoi made in the past that helped shape Guardian. There are some implied elements that may be triggering for people, so please view the warnings (brief mentions but important to the plot).

“Izayoi?” 

A deep voice broke through the trance that Izayoi found herself in. The petite dark haired young woman turned to face her fiance, warm brown eyes shifting upwards to meet darkened gold. 

“I… I…” she stammered, her thoughts spinning, “I don’t understand.”

“What is there to understand?” Dark eyebrows rose sharply to hide behind moonpale, shimmering beneath the night sky. Long gleaming silver hair streamed down his back as he shook his head with a small chuckle. “I want more than just a marriage with you, love,” he whispered, the back of his hand caressing her cheek carefully, long claws tucked away from her face. “You are my everything, my love, my life. I want to share my life with you, to have you by my side forever.” 

Izayoi knew what he was asking, what he was offering. Toga, the great Inu no Taisho, strongest of the yokai, was offering to bond with her, to share his lifespan with her.

She just couldn’t.

How could he bond with a soul that was incomplete?

Izayoi and her sister Izana had been more than just twins; they were one soul born into two bodies, each a close part of the other. The happiest memories Izayoi had of her childhood were of the two of them running through the gardens, hiding from their parents, sneaking pastries that the cook always left out for them. They were inseparable, joined at the hip, each knowing without a word what the other was thinking or planning.

The day Izayoi had let her sister out of her sight was the day it had all ended. Their father had drawn Izana into an empty room, closing the shoji doors to give them privacy, but Izayoi had stood just outside the frame where she knew her shadow could not be seen, but she could still hear, anxious to know what was happening with her sister. She was not prepared for what she heard.

Izana had been promised to the son of their daimyo, a young man by the name of Takemaru no Setsuna. No matter how Izana had pleaded, their father refused to budge. It did not matter that Izana and Izayoi were only twelve; the betrothal would go through and Izana would be taken to live under the protection of the Setsuna clan until she turned eighteen, at which time the marriage would be completed. 

“There is no other way,” their father had whispered as Izayoi strained to hear, holding back her sobs, “our family requires their patronage to survive, and this is their condition.”

“Please father, do not make me leave… let me stay here at least until I am of age.”

“It is decided, Izana. You will leave in the morning.”

The moment the shoji doors leading outside had closed behind their father, Izayoi had tumbled in, and the sisters had held each other close, their tears blending as they fell. Their last night together was spent huddled next to the other, each refusing to let go.

Eight months after that fateful day, Izayoi felt her heart stutter as pain burst down her body. A few hours later she collapsed in horror at the feeling of her soul being pulled from her body.

“No…” she had whispered, running to her father in a panic, her body hollow, cold. 

Something was wrong.

So terribly terribly wrong.

And in the lake outside the Setsuna compound she’d found her sister - the other half of her soul - floating pale in the moonlight, her face serene beneath mottled bruises. 

And from there, she’d begun to live a half-life.

Six years later,Takemaru came to visit the family, to offer his hand for the now eighteen year old Izayoi. Izayoi hid in fear that her father would give her to the man who had cost her sister her life.

Izayoi’s father had instead stood up to the man, refusing his advances and offer.

“You will not trade one twin for the other and take her from us as well.”

Those words had sealed their fate. Within a month they had been shunned from the town, their shop shut down, forced to flee and make a life as peddling merchants. Izayoi had walked beside her mother and father for two years, their horses ladened with wares, traveling town to town to make a living, finding nowhere to call home.

Until their journeys took them deep into the woods, to a village Izayoi had never heard mention of. There, upon entering the town, she had first seen _him_ , standing in the middle of the town, deep in conversation, silver hair glistening in the sun. The man paused, lifted his head, eyes going wide with surprise before his head turned towards them. 

The moment gold met warm brown, her family had found a home. 

Within the week Izayoi and the Inu no Taisho - Toga, to his friends - were engaged, and her family had been thrilled that their daughter had made a match with the powerful yokai, even without a bridal gift to give. 

As happy as she was, it was bittersweet, and as much as she loved Toga, she was incomplete. She had known that one day she would disappoint him, and he would leave. 

She had just hoped for a few more days with him. 

“I… I can’t.” She whispered, her eyes filling with tears as she turned her face away from him. She knew what the rejection would mean, but…

She heard the snarl behind her, the sound of a fist striking against wood as sakura blossoms began to fall, shaken loose from the tree she stood under by the impact. Her eyes closed as the tears began to fall as she heard his footsteps fade into the distance.

It was over.

Izayoi slowly made her way home, the tattered edges of her heart fracturing further with each step.

She loved him. She would love him for all of her life.

But she couldn't love him for all of his.

* * *

Izayoi woke slowly the following day, listening to the world around her for any sign of distress from her parents, any sign that they had heard from Toga of what had happened. She rose from her sleeping mat afraid, hesitant to face the day, but knowing she needed to be strong. After dressing for the day she bowed good morning to her parents and slid out of the home before they could question her too closely.

She wanted a few more moments to pretend. To pretend she wasn’t broken, that she had more than half a life. 

Her feet followed the path to the sakura tree… to _their tree_ , without her even realizing where she was moving. When she lifted her head her eyes, she saw she was not alone. He was there. Shadows danced over his long silver hair, uncaracteristacally left free to cascade down his back. The rippling light played over the cerulean markings on his face, his normally bright gold eyes dull.

When he saw her he smiled faintly and held out his hand.Without hesitation she placed hers in it. It always fascinated her how delicate he made her feel--not small, as other men had, but delicate.Treasured. 

“I didn’t expect you to be here.” She said quietly, as he drew her close to him. 

“Were you hoping to hide from me?” he whispered, letting her head rest on his shoulder. 

“No,” she responded as she took a deep breath, taking in the scent that was uniquely his, Sandalwood and Bergamot, “I thought you wouldn’t want to see me.” 

“Izayoi…” his voice rumbled through his chest, the vibration soothing against her cheek, “why?” 

Izayoi nodded slightly, baring her heart to him. His arms tighten around her, his nose dropping into her hair, her soothing scent of sakura blossoms surrounding him as she spoke.

How had he not seen it?

How had he not realized the pain she dealt with every day, hidden behind a smile. 

“Izayoi…” he whispered, placing a soft kiss to the top of her head.

“Did you know I have--” she paused, faltered, and corrected herself, “ _had_ a sister?”

There was a moment of silence between them. Eventually, with a gentle hand stroking through her hair, he answered.

“No.”

“I am not whole, Toga,” her warm brown eyes were sad as she pulled away to look at him. “Part of my soul died when she did. I struggled to exist, going through the motions only to appease my parents after they forced me to eat, to live. You’re asking me to watch my parents grow old, to watch our friends come and pass while we stay the same, never changing on the outside. But with every loss, every death, a little more of my soul would die, I would physically be here but I would not exist as Izayoi anymore. How could I ask you to bond your life with half a soul?” She closed her eyes, her forehead dropping to his chest. “How could I live with the pain of those losses, dying a little more each day? How can I ask you to do that? To spend eternity with an empty husk?”

There was a moment of silence between the two as Toga contemplated her words.

“Do you love me?” Toga’s voice shook with emotion as he ran a hand through her hair.

“More than anything,” she whispered. “More than I should.”

“Then give me these moments with you, as many as we have.” Her eyes darted to his with those words, a cautious hope blooming in their depths. “Give me the gift of the memories I will have of us, let me know the joy of the children we will have born of our love. Be my wife Izayoi, spend your days with me, loving me, letting me love you.”

Izayoi gave a small cry as her arms stole around his waist. 

“I thought you would reject me,” she cried softly into his chest.

“How could I reject my heart?” He lifted a hand to stroke her cheek, smiling down at her with a soft smile. “Even if I only have you with me for a moment, it will be the brightest moment of my life, because it is shared with you.”

His hand shifted to cradle her head as he bent to place a gentle kiss against her lips. 

“One week, Izayoi, one week until you are mine,” he whispered against them.

“And you are mine.” She responded, making his lips curve as he kissed her again.

“Always.”

* * *

Two years had passed since the moment under the sakura tree, two wonderful years full of life, laughter and love. There were times when Toga would see Izayoi staring off in the distance, a look of sadness in her eye and knew she was feeling the emptiness that continued to exist inside of her, a pain he could never heal. It had hurt to know she would not accept his bond, but he understood too well the pain of a broken soul, and he would never have wanted her to suffer just to keep her by his side.

She was his soulmate, he knew he would find her again,and have the opportunity to learn to love who she would become.

He crossed the room to stand behind his wife, his arms drawing her back against his chest. Her hands raised to her lower abdomen as a small smile crossed her lips. Toga nuzzled Izayoi’s cheek with his nose, taking in the changes to her scent as his hands came to rest over hers. He could smell his son growing in her, a blend of human and yokai, brought into the world with love. 

He would treasure her for all the days he had her, and he would love and cherish the child they had made together that was growing in her womb. He lowered his chin to rest on her shoulder as he held her, and heard her sigh with happiness as she leaned back against him.

“Inuyasha.” He said, startling Izayoi. “Let’s call him Inuyasha.”

Artwork commission by [Bridgidthefae](https://clearwillow.tumblr.com/post/640483672439554049/i-collaborated-with-ruddcatha-for-inuparentsday)


End file.
